This invention relates generally to indicating devices and more specifically to such devices which indicate which specific station of a machine having plural fabrication or tooling stations formed a given article.
High speed production equipment is utilized in many industries to manufacture unitary products such as containers like glass vials and lightbulb envelopes, screws and threaded fasteners, and other component parts. Many machines which fabricate these parts utilize fabrication or tooling stations which progressively form such unitary parts from metal, plastic, or glass stock. A machine which accomplishes the transformation of material stock into a finished article is understandably complex. Such a machine will typically include a plurality of fabrication or tooling stations remote from the location at which completed articles exit the machine. Such separation renders the detection and tracing of malfunctioning forming stations difficult inasmuch as no apparent relationship generally exists between a particular article departing from the machine and the particular one of a plurality of identical moving or cycling forming stations which formed the article. In such instances, correction of the malfunction may typically be achieved only by shutting down the machine and inspecting several or all of the forming stations or on a trial and error basis. Furthermore, since the production speed of such machines may vary depending upon the particular products being formed or other considerations, mental counting procedures or timing devices external to the machine itself will result in an accurate indication only under given conditions.
As a specific example, small glass containers such as vials may be formed in machines known in the art as vertical vial machines. Such machines accept glass tube stock in plural rotating chucks. The rotating chucks are disposed about the periphery of a revolving carousel having a plurality of stationary heating and forming stations which transform the glass stock into vials. Such machines may also incorporate ware finish tooling stations which circulate in closed paths substantially outside the periphery of, but partially coincident with the path of travel of the machine chucks. The completed article is discharged from the machine at a location remote from the circulating tooling station which provided the vial finish and it is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately determine which of the tooling stations formed a given glass vial finish.
Trial and error correction of the malfunctioning or misadjusted tooling station will often result in the misadjustment of a properly operating tooling station. Alternatively, the machine may be shut down, and each of the tooling stations may be inspected or operated through one cycle to visually locate the malfunction. These approaches, of course, seriously reduce production and increase downtime; both factors resulting in increased production costs.